Information Law

Code:

MCI0009

Acronym:

DI

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Social Science

Instance: 2009/2010 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Informatics Engineering
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Information Science

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MCI	42	Plano de estudos oficial	1	-	6	60	162
MHP	0	MHP - Study Plan	1	-	6	60	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

This course unit aims to handle the fundamental legal themes, concepts and notions in the domain of Information Law.

Besides a systematic approach of the applicable legislation, ways and content of information, it will also be handled the new topics resulting from the interaction between information and technology.

It is aimed to endow students with the essential tools to understand Information Law, by giving them examples which may be useful in their future career, being one of the aspects to be taken into account in the development of information and communication systems.

Students will be familiar with the European and international standards, as well as with the Portuguese regulations.

Program

Aspects of the Information Society (IS) – interaction with law

Information law and IS
International and community context of information law
Constitutional laws
Rights, freedom and guarantees. Freedom to inform and communicate. The right to get information, to be informed and to inform.
Access to information in the administrative procedure.
Principles of open administration. Evolution, community and Portuguese legislation. The role of Comissão de Acesso aos Documentos Administrativos (Portuguese commission which assures that the rules related to the access of administrative information are followed).
Personal and private life data protection. Principles. Compared legislation. Community and Portuguese norms. The role of Comissão Nacional de Protecção de Dados (Portuguese commission for data protection). Different applications. Information and communication technologies and personal data protection.
Freedom of speech and information in the global network. Context.
Right to information, copyright and related rights.
Right to information and software, database and domain names protection regime. The value of the documents and digital signature in the domain of information law.
Right to information and right to communication.
Right to information and libraries.
Information law, computer crime and cybercrime.
Collective security, civic freedom when using information and communication technologies.
Applications and examples.

Mandatory literature

Garcia Marques e Lourenço Martins; Direito da Informática, Almedina
Fernando Reis Condesso; Direito da Comunicação Social , Almedina, 2007

Teaching methods and learning activities

Classes comprise a theoretical component which is designed to the comprehension of the principles, norms and laws. The practical component is based on the presentation and resolution of practical cases, which are inspired in real situations.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Description	Type	Time (hours)	Weight (%)	End date
Attendance (estimated)	Participação presencial	48,00
	Trabalho escrito	20,00		2010-03-29
	Trabalho escrito	20,00		2010-04-26
	Trabalho escrito	20,00		2010-05-24
	Trabalho escrito	24,00		2010-06-07
	Exame	2,00
	Total:	-	0,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Description	Type	Time (hours)	End date
	Estudo autónomo	28
	Total:	28,00

Eligibility for exams

Execution of three or four scheduled exercises.
Minimum grade of 40% in all components.

Calculation formula of final grade

Exercises – 30% of the final grade
Final assignment and oral exam – 70% of the final grade

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Working students have to perform the three or four scheduled assignments.

Classification improvement

Students may improve the grade of the final assignment.